BUILDING BYELAWS

Architect Kamlesh P Mishra

Professor,NSAP Jaipur
•Lecture 1-4,Building Bye
Laws of NBC.
• (What is NBC, objectives & definitions etc)
 What is NBC code
• The National Building Code of India (NBC), a comprehensive
building Code, is a national instrument providing guidelines
for regulating the building construction activities across the
country. It serves as a Model Code for adoption by all
agencies involved in building construction works be they
Public Works Departments, other government construction
departments, local bodies or private construction agencies.
The Code mainly contains administrative regulations,
development control rules and general building
requirements; fire safety requirements; stipulations
regarding materials, structural design and construction
(including safety); and building and plumbing services.
• The Code was first published in 1970 at the instance of
Planning Commission and then revised in 1983. Thereafter
three major amendments were issued, two in 1987 and the
third in 1997.
 What is NBC code
• Considering a series of further developments in the field of building
construction including the lessons learnt in the aftermath of number
of natural calamities like devastating earthquakes and super cyclones
witnessed by the country, a Project for comprehensive revision of NBC
was taken up under the aegis of National Building Code Sectional
Committee, CED 46 of BIS and its 18 expert Panels; involving as many
as 400 experts. As a culmination of the Project, the revised NBC has
now been brought out as National Building Code of India 2005 (NBC
2005).
• The comprehensive NBC 2005 contains 11 Parts some of which are
further divided into Sections totalling 26 chapters (see Annex 1). The
salient features of the revised NBC (see Annex 2) include, apart from
other changes made, the changes specially in regard to further
enhancing our response to meet the challenges posed by natural
calamities and reflecting the state-of-the-art and contemporary
applicable international practices.
• The Code has been published in one full volume containing all the
Parts and Sections. Besides, five separate groups to cater largely to
the interest/agency dealing with different aspects of building.
 National Building Code.
 It is a single document in which like a network the
information contained in various INDIAN STANDARDS is
woven into a pattern of continuity with interdependent
requirements of sections carefully analyzed & fitted
into to make the whole document, a continuous one.
 A continuous thread of pre-planning is woven which in
itself contributed in the economies in construction
particularly in building & economic services.
 The purpose of all these building codes is to ensure
public safety, health & welfare as affected by building
construction. This purpose includes:
 STRUCTURAL STRENGTH
 SANITARY EQUIPMEN
 LIGHT & VENTILATION
 FIRE SAFETY
 Why Building Bye laws
• INTRODUCTION• Mode of
construction varies from region
to other region depending
upon motive of owners,
availability of material, labour,
construction and weather
conditions.
• PURPOSE• If certain rules and
regulations are not made,
house owner may construct
residential building as per his
whims and fancies.
• Hence it is essential to maintain
and implement the bye laws to
provide proper ventilation,
privacy, security and safety
between the neighbours.
 Building Bye laws (Objective)
• DEFINITION• Bye law: the
construction of any building,
certain restrictions are laid down
by Municipal bodies, Urban
development authorities and other
government departments as town
planning trusts to clear open
spaces to be left round the
building.
• Example: BDA, BBMP, MUDA, CITY
Corporation. KMC,DDA,PUDA,CDA
etc.
• Objectives of Building Bye laws•
Allows disciplined and systematic
growth of buildings and towns and
prevent haphazard development.
 Building Bye laws (Objective)
• Protect safety of public
against fire, noise, health
hazards and structural
failures.
• Provide proper utilization of
space. Hence, maximum
efficiency in planning can be
derived from these bye laws
• They give guidelines to the
architect or an engineer in
effective planning and useful
in preplanning the building
activates.
• They provide health, safety
and comfort to the people
who live in buildings
 Building Bye Laws.
• Due to these by-laws, each
building will have proper
approaches, light, air and
ventilation which are essential for
health, safety and comfort.
• Where sanction is required?
• Any structure for any purpose and
used for human habitation is
called buildings. Wall enclosing or
intend to enclose any land or
space required Sanction from
authority but tents / seminanhas,
tarpaulin shelter etc erected for
any occasions not counted
building & not required sanction.
 Definitions.
• Development:
• Means carrying out of
building, engineering,
mining, or other
operation in or over or
under land or water or in
the use of any building
or land includes
redevelopment & layout
& subdivision of any land
that is called
development.
 Definitions
• Architect- means a person who is
registered as an Architect by the
Council of Architecture under the
Architects Act, 1972 (20 of 1972).
• Applicant- means Owner of the land
and includes authorised
representative of the owner or
anybody having construction right in
accordance with law and shall also
include the transferee.
• Area- in relation to a building, means
the superficies of a horizontal section
thereof made at the plinth level,
inclusive of the external walls and
such portion of.
 Definitions.
apartment -means part of a
property having a direct
exit to a street or a
passage or to a common
area leading to such
street or passage which
together with its
undivided interest in the
common areas and
facilities forms an
independent unit.
addition to a building-means
addition to the cubic
content or to the floor area
of a building;
 National Building Code
• advertising sign- means any surface of a structure
with characters, letters, illustrations or
illuminations applied thereto and displayed in any
manner whatsoever to public view for the
purposes of advertising or giving information
regarding, or for attracting the notice of the
public to, any place, person, public performance,
article or merchandise whatsoever, and which
surface or structure is attached to, forms part of,
or is connected with, any land /or building, or is
fixed to a wall, hoarding, frame, post, kiosk,
structure, ground or fence, or is displayed in
space or on screen.
 National Building Code
• air-conditioning- means the process of treating
air so as to control simultaneously its
temperature, humidity, cleanliness and
distribution to meet the requirement of
conditioned space.
• Alteration -means change from one occupancy to
another, or a structural change, such as an
addition to the area or height, or the removal of
part of a building, or any change to the structure,
such as, the construction of, cutting into or
removal of any wall, partition, column, beam,
joist, floor or other support, or a change to the
fixture or equipment;
 Definitions.
• dwelling unit- means an
independent housing unit with
separate living, cooking and
sanitary facilities;
• Engineer- means a person
having minimum Bachelor
degree in Civil Engineering or in
Construction Engineering of a
recognised University or
Institution.
• Escalator- means a mechanical
device to transport persons
between two or more levels in
an inclined direction by means
of guided moving steps;
 Definitions.
• Balcony- means a semi open
space including horizontal
projection with a handrail or
balustrade to serve as passage
or sitting out lace;
• basement or cellar- means the
lower storey of a building partly
or wholly below the ground level
or the abutting road level,
whichever is higher.
• boundary wall- means a wall
constructed along the property
line not exceeding permissible
height as specified in these
rules.
 Definitions.
• building plan- means a plan
accompanying a notice for
sanction, or provisional sanction
for erection ,or re-erection, or
addition to, or alteration of, a
building.
• building services- or "services",
in relation to a building, means
lighting and ventilation, electric
al installations, air-conditioning
and heating, acoustics and
sound insulation, installation of
lifts, travelators and escalators,
water supply,
 Definitions.
• sewerage and drainage, gas supply, fire fighting
arrangements, solid waste management,
electronic, telecommunication and telephone
installations.
• chajja or cornice- means a sloping, horizontal or
structural, overhung usually provided over
openings on external walls to provide protection
from the sun and rain.
• Chimney- means the construction by means of
which a flue is formed for the purpose of carrying
the products of combustion to the open air, and
includes chimney stack and flue-pipe;
 Definitions.
• commencement of work in
relation to a building- means
the actual commencement of
a building foundation work or
erection or re-erection or
alteration of a building
including foundation, but does
not include mere excavation of
earth.
• cul-de-sac- means a public or
private street or passage
closed at one end with
provision for turning of cars;
 Definitions.
• covered area- means the ground area covered
by building immediately above plinth level
considering all the floors at all levels, but does
not include the spaces exempted under these
rules and the space covered by— (a)garden,
boundary, well and well structure, plant
nursery, water pool, swimming pool (if not
covered), platform round a tree, tank,
fountain or bench, (b)drainage, culvert,
conduit, septic tank or soak pit, (c)compound
wall and gate, and area covered by chajja;
 Definitions.
• Dangerous- in relation to a building which, by
reason of its age, inadequate maintenance,
dilapidation, abandonment or by any other
reason, has become structurally unsafe or is not
provided with adequate means of egress or
which constitutes a fire hazard, dangerous to
human life.
• Depth- in relation to a plot, means the distance
from the front to the rear line of the plot.
• Drainage- means the removal of any liquid by a
system provided for the purpose.
 Definitions.
• Drain- includes sewer, a house
drain, or a drain of any other
description, a tunnel, a
culvert, a ditch, a channel and
any other device for carrying
off sullage, sewage, offensive
matter, polluted water, rain
water or subsoil water.
• Floormeans- unless otherwise
specifically provided in these
rules, the lower surface in a
storey, after the finishing of
which one normally walks in a
building
 Definitions.
• floor area- means the covered area of a building
at any floor level.
• Floor Area Ratio -or "F.A.R." (being the
abbreviation of the whole words "Floor Area
Ratio") means the quotient obtained by dividing
the total floor area
• of all the floors of a building by the area of the
plot, the formula being as follows:
• Total floor area of all floors
• F.A.R. = -------------------------------------
Area of the plot
 Definitions.
• Form- means a standard format for
application to the Authorities
appended to these rules;
• framed building- means a building
where the dead load and
superimposed load are
transferred to foundation through
framed members with rigid joints,
which may be of R.C.C., pre
stressed concrete, steel, timber
,or the like, such members at the
transfer of loads being not only
experienced with directional
stress but also bending stress and
sheer stress as well;
 Definitions.
• Ground coverage- is the percentage of the largest
covered area as per roof plan of
building/buildings against the area of the plot
including the area of the water bodies, if any,
within the plot;
The area of the plot covered by building X 100
• Ground coverage = --------------------------------
Total area of the plot
• ground level -means the level at a height of 15 cm
above the average level of the centre line of the
street or passage to which the plot abuts;
 Definitions.
• habitable room- means a room occupied or designed
for occupancy by one or more persons for study,
living, sleeping, eating, cooking, if it is used as
• a living room, but not including bath-rooms, water-
closet, compartments, laundries, serving and storage
pantries, corridors, cellars, attics and spaces that are
not used frequently or during extended period
clause.
ground level- means the level at a height of 15 cm
above the average level of the centre line of the
street or passage to which the plot abuts;
 Definitions.
• height of a building -shall mean vertical
distance measured from the ground level to the
highest point of the building, in case of flat
roofs and in the case of sloped roofs, the mid-
point between the eave‘s level and the ridge.
• Note.—For hill areas, the vertical distance shall
be measured from the lowest floor level instead
of average ground level as applicable in case of
plains
 Definitions.
• Lift-means an appliance designed to transport
persons or materials between two or more
levels in a vertical or substantially vertical
direction by means of guided car platform; as
specified in these rules;
• Loft -means an intermediary floor between
two floors or a residual space in a pitched roof
above normal floor level which is constructed
or adopted for storage purposes;
• Masonry -means an assemblage of masonry
units properly bonded together with mortar;
 Definitions.
• means of access- means a public
or private street or passage open
to the sky, as shown in the survey
map or other records of the
Municipality and includes a
passage which may not be open
to the sky in the case of partition
of an existing building.
• Mezzanine floor -means an
intermediate floor between any
two floors;
• Municipal authorities- means the
municipal authorities specified in
section 12 of the Act;
 Definition
open space- means an area, forming an integral
part of the site, at the ground level open to the
sky;
• Parapet- means a low wall or railing built along
the edge of a roof or a floor;
• parking space- means an area enclosed or
unenclosed, covered or open, sufficient in size to
part vehicles with a driveway connecting the
parking space with a street or alley and
permitting ingress and egress of vehicle;
• partition wall- means an interior non-load-
bearing wall of storey or part storey height;
 Definition
• Party wall- means one wall forming part of a
building and used or constructed to be used
for the supports and separation of adjoining
buildings to different owners or constructed or
adopted to be occupied by different persons;
• Passage -means a means of access which is
not a private or public street and which
provides access to not more than three plots,
and includes footway and drains attached to
the passage and also includes all lands up to
the property line of the plots abutting the
passage;
 Definition
• Plinth- means the part of a wall or structure
between the ground level and the level of the
lowest floor of a building above ground level;
• principal occupancy- means highest
occupancy among the different use of a
building/ buildings but not less than 50% of
the total usable area.
• Purchaser-means any person who, enters into
an agreement with the Promoter for the
purchase of a dwelling unit
 Definition
• row housing- means a row of houses with only
front open space and rear open space and
interior open space where applies back line"
means a line usually parallel with the centre line
of a road or street, laid down by a competent
authority beyond which nothing can be
constructed towards the road.
• Shed- means a light or temporary structure for
shade or shelter.
• single building- means a building having single
block or multiple blocks connected at any level
including basement where mandatory open
spaces are considered in respect of the tallest
block.
 Definition
• site or building site means the entire area
covered by a building with out-houses, and
includes the land at the front or in the sides
of, and pertaining to, such building and the
land required by rules to be left open;
• Storey- means the portion of a building
included between the surface of any floor and
the surface of the floor next above it, or if
there be no floor above it, then the space
between any, floor and the top of roof next
above it;